119 Chapter 119: Brothers in Extremes
The bad only got worse.
Ghost Rider, being the only able bodied member, took a chance.
He was off in a burst of flame.
Daken— no, Cthon, was laughing as he ran the SoulSword along Ilyana's throat.
Bronte felt his heart freeze over.
Ghost Rider crashed into Daken— Vessel of Cthon, and the two rolled through the greenery.
There was no worse feeling.
No worse end.
His head fell into the dirt. Gabbie stood over him crying endlessly. Ashes from all the dying Vampires fell like black snowfall.
Like the endless silence of death was coming in fragments.
Piece
By
Piece…..
He'd never felt so tired. He'd never felt so—
"You've done all I asked and more….. and still the gods try to cheat you. I believe two can play such a game." Oshtur spoke into his mind.
But it was too late.
She was dead.
The list was growing.
"Hold onto Hope, Bronte. Hold onto Hope and say my name. Invoke my power. Awaken your blood."
Brontë faded.
His mouth parted. Words flowed freely.
"Omnipotent Oshtur's….. Blood Awakening..."
Everything went dark.
A light flashed.
The dark was no more.
Bronte was awake. More awake than ever. His Storm state was active— powered by a storm of divine origin. A Storm as ancient as the earth itself.
"—te?" Gabbie sniffled.
"Get ready."
Mystic lightning molded into an arm evened out his frame. He could feel the wind on his phantom fingers.
His hair was pure white fire.
"Share your gifts. Share pieces of you as you always have….. through your music…. Your ideals… your actions. Your blood." Oshtur whispered.
Bronte held out his arm as Blade sat up beside him.
As if he too was guided by the gods, he grabbed Bronte's arm and bit down.
From the other side, Bronte aimed his energy limb at Moon-Knight and enflamed his weaponry in pure divinity.
"Can you heal, Jack?" Bronte asked both Gabbie and Mend.
"We can try."
"Go."
Brontë stood up, feeling only balance.
Blade followed as his head lit ablaze and his eyes glowed bright enough to crack his shades.
"Oh yea….. that's a nice burn." His muscle fibers shimmered beneath his dark skin.
"I thought I had enough of the gods. But this isn't bad... I'll make an exception." Moon-Knight said.
He could see her. Brontë wished he was blind. His tears ran. They ran and ran and ran….
"For Magik."
"For Magik."
In a flash they were gone.
A clearing was made where Daken and Ghost Rider battled.
Ghost Rider had the upper hand, lifting Daken off the ground and pinning him with a penance stare.
Daken— Cthon, laughed again.
"Guilt? Me? You're not serious." Cthon kicked Ghost-Rider across the clearing and faced them.
"Oh…. You three loo—"
They let loose on the new Vessel. They'd done enough talking.
Blade moved like a wasp. All whizzing blade arts and deadly stings while Moon-Knight followed up his attacks, prolonging the damage— giving Bronte his opening.
Every slash was followed by an explosion. Every explosion was followed by him.
It was no longer a battle without nullification. It was a battle of extremes.
Daken had become the absolute and irredeemable dark.
They had become a trio of suns. Of stars. Of Justice and hope and intensity to oppose unholy violence and malice reborn.
They burned bright. Bright enough to expel shadow.
"What about Genosha!? What about Massachusetts? Wakanda?! They killed us every day. They waged a genocide on innocent people!! BUT WE HAVE TO HOLD OUR HANDS?! WHY! Why do YOU want to live in THI—"
Blade dashed past Daken's backside, cutting open the tendons behind his knees and dropping him.
Moon-Knight shoved a handful of pellet grenades into his mouth and kicked him into Bronte.
He caught Daken and pried his jaws open, facing the sky as a lightning bolt blasted his insides full of explosives.
Daken's stomach bulged and smoke flowed from his mouth.
He was covered in burns and cuts. His wings were gone. He was burning simply standing near Bronte.
Brontë was sinking as he burned into the floor.
He floated. He made Daken rise with him. The Vessel of Cthon moved to attack.
Bronte shoved his elemental arm through Daken's chest, grabbing his spine and searing it.
He roared from above the clouds.
"You think this is it for me? You think you can disrespect a god?? You'll kill your brother for nothing!"
Bronte cried tears of fire.
"My brother died a long time ago."
And in truth he did.
Daken gripped his arm suddenly, uncaring of how it disintegrated his hand. The black in his eyes faded.
"D-Don't.... Do not let me die for nothing— SHUT UP!" Daken and Cthon battled for control of a dwindling body.
Brontë watched in silence.
"Don't. I don't deserve it…. But don't. HAHAHA— He's WHINING!— No! I- I tried. But I can't…. I can't forgive. It's been so long. I can't let go of what they've done to us. I don't have the strength— WEAK bastard….— Fuck you. I— I lost my way... I don't give a damn. I'll do it again! Anything to Change the world.... Just change the world, ragdoll."
Bronte watched the bizzare display in silence— anger and pain for Ilyana sat like a rock in his stomach. He straightened before replying, "Yea….."
He amped the mystic lightning building his arm to a vibrating crescendo. Cthon roared like he always did.
All Bronte was left with was the release.
No sound. No devestation.
One moment to the next.
Just sparkles and clear wind and a distant feeling of hope. Hope…..
"Hope for what?" Bronte was left floating in a clear morning sky as the ashes of evil faded.
"She's dead..." His face fell into his hand.
"SHES ALIVE!!" Gabbie flew with the Symbiote into Bronte. Tears of joy leaked onto his torn suit as she sank into him.
"What are you talking about?"
Gabbie took him to the ground.
The Midnight suns surrounded Magik— or at least that's who he thought it was. Slowly, they lifted her to her feet.
She was different.
A thin scar ran across her neck. But it almost completely blended in with the rest of her now completely metal exterior.
Just like her brother.
Her hair was frozen into its frayed and ruffled state from when she was laying dead. It now looked like a wild crown of gold. Fit for a wild Steel-Demon Queen.
"I told you. He was scared of us."
Jack, now in his human form, laughed. Blade and Moon-Knight joined him.
"We're going insane…. Downright loco." Robbie commented.
Whatever else was said fell on deaf ears as Bronte approached Ilyana.
She was saying something as he neared but quickly cut herself off as he grabbed her and pulled her into a kiss that felt like it had been building forever.
Like fireworks— or flowers in spring, her scents of vanilla and brimstone bloomed. They surrounded him— taking him away from the desolate nuclear warzone and into a new paradise if only for a moment. A moment was all he needed. He felt hope.
"Wait!" Ilyana said before Bronte disconnected.
"Did Cyclops ever give the last signal?"
One more General.
Bronte was going to go insane from this emotional roller coaster. In all his passion and loss he forgot another war waged.
As if on que, the sky blinked red. A faint— fading thing. Sad compared to its first raging blast.
They all looked at each-other before Ilyana took them back to Chernobyl.
